Mazda CX-5

Mazda's aging offbeat family SUV still offers driver appeal and solid foundations Mazda is a firm that tends to do things its own way. And the Mazda CX-5 is no different.Sure, Hiroshima’s family SUV conforms to a few norms. It’s fairly traditionally styled and offers lots of trim variations and options, but where it is firmly different from rivals is in the powertrains.A 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol in an SUV? A 2.5-litre with AWD? And a diesel!? In this day and age?The first CX-5 got in fairly early on the current craze for SUVs and of which a remarkable 1.5 million units were built and sold around the world over a six-year lifespan.So this second generation model with its zany (well, by family SUV standards) power options has a lot of heavy lifting to do. The company plainly has the SUV segment’s premium and ‘semi-premium’ brand players in its sights but is setting out to undercut them by several thousand pounds in some cases once equipment level is taken into account.This means the CX-5’s main rivals range from mid-level models such as the Ford Kuga, Kia Sportage and Skoda Karoq right through to the cheaper end of the market with the Citroen C5 Aircross.